Tappan Broiler Bouhaha

[dalangdon]

We're having the house replumbed, and the plumber had to replace the gas line to the Fabulous 400 as part of that. When I went to relight the stove, everything worked as expected, except for the broiler. The pilot light lit, but the broiler won't turn on to broil.

It seems like I had this problem before and somebody - meaning somebody here - gave me a bit of advice that fixed it. But I''m drawing a blank. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[bobofhollywood]

guessing here

It is possible for a gas oven to have a pilot and yet have an electrically operated safety valve which needs the clock to be in the MAN or ON position in order to light. Check your clock position.

-Just guessing, but it's a possibility. I myself have never seen a fabulous 400 in person, but it sounds like a likely candidate for this type of setup.

Bob

 

[toggleswitch]

Mom used to have a near TOL Hardwick in the early 70's with a standing pilot. A thermocouple or simply thermal sensor would "prove" the pilot light before allowing gas to flow. The part that is "licked" / heated by the pilot may have become weak/defective. Or perhaps the diverter/ safety valve itself.

On hers the oven pilot would be sensed allowing gas to a SECOND diverter valve. That valve would direct gas to the bake/roast(lower) gas burning tube or the upper "U" shaped broiler burner tube. The broler pilot was either *ON* or *OFF* (depending on postion of combined temeprator seletor /function selector vale. The oven pilot on hers woudl grow when knob was moved from *off*, to the point that the sensor would "feel" it. and respond by ----er---- uh--- passing gas. Therefore the size of the "small" and "large" pilot mattered.

Don't know which was the issue, I was 10 y.o. when it needed to be repaired! BTW? Died DURING A dinner party she was having. LOL

Good luck. Hope this helps. What are the mechanics of yours? DO let us know what it turns out to be.

 

[dalangdon]

It seems like a pretty straightforward pilot light system, and I dont' think it's tied to the clock, since the big oven is working fine. The pilot is lit and everything, it's just not firing.

 

[coldspot66]

Does the pilot flame get bigger (standby pilot) when you turn the knob to broil? Does the standby pilot engulf the small bulb in it's path? That needs to happen to heat the bulb , then that opens the valve to let gas through to light the burner. The pilot burner could be dirty/dusty. Take a small wire brush to the pilot burner to wipe away white dust that might have built up because of a new gas line. Hope this helps!

 

[dalangdon]

It works!

A good scrubbing of the pilot's personal space got all the white gunk off, and it started up right away!

 

[scott55405]

Yay!

 

[dalangdon]

Now if I could only get the thermostatic element and oven indicator lights to work....... Anybody in the Seattle area know anything about gas stove's electrical systems?